The Forgotten Princess
by Quest cat
Summary: An unknown member of the royal family of planet Doom has returned home and the mayhem is soon to begin and the big kitties might not be enought to handle it
1. Prologe

(I own nothing, well save for NaTal, but hey, I created her) *****  
  
On a space cruiser barreling through the vast emptiness, someone opens a message file on their computer for perhaps the hundredth time.  
  
"Dearest,  
I am afraid that I must bring you back from the academy rather quickly. There is someone here that needs to have your competitive nature present again. I've already had a ship built to your specifications and begun the job of putting together a crew."  
  
A leather bound woman's hand reached up and closed the screen.  
  
***** Hey people, I don't know if any of you recognize me from elsewhere on this site, but I've got other stories on this site. None of you are going to believe this, but I found what you read up there when digging through a bunch of old notebooks, I got to thinking, and I decided that I could use it for a story. What's up there was what I found and I know it doesn't have anything to do with the big kitties, but I'm going to see where it takes me. Nyo! 


	2. Homecoming

(I own nothing, well, save for NaTal, but hey, I created her) *****  
  
"Why the hell can't these things get in sometime earlier in the day?" the young woman said to no one in particular, brushing her white bangs out of her face.  
  
She looked down the ramp she was walking on. There was an older man waiting for her. His skin was blue, like her's, only darker, and his clothing was vibrant and showy compared the dull gray academy uniform that she was wearing. She took off running down the ramp, eventually throwing herself into the older man's arms.  
  
"Daddy!" she shouted, nearly knocking the man over, "You came to get me yourself!"  
  
"And why wouldn't I have? You've been away at that academy for so long. God, it's good to see you again."  
  
"So, where's that brother of mine?"  
  
"Where else? Chasing after that princess he's so fond of."  
  
"I take it, then, that my return home is going to be a surprise for him."  
  
"I'd say that would be a safe bet. Come now, we should get you home, you've had a long day and need your rest."  
  
The girl fallowed her father in a slightly sleeping state.  
  
*****  
Alright people, nyo, there you have it, the real first chapter. Well, what do you think? I know it's still kind of mysterious, but I'm loving writing it! As I say with every fic I do, I am open to any and all subjestions. By for nyo! 


	3. A warm welcoming Not!

(I own nothing, well, save for NaTal, but hey, I created her) *****  
  
Keith was sitting at the monitoring equipment in the castle of lions when Lance walked in.  
  
"Hey, Keith," he said suddenly, startling the captain, "Anything interesting?"  
  
"Not much, though there was a bit of activity coming from the Alliance space academy."  
  
"What sort of activity?"  
  
"A transport ship left the docks nearby, but there's nothing mentioned about any outgoing vessels scheduled for today."  
  
"You sure they just didn't forget to register the flight?"  
  
Keith just looks over at his friend with a look that asked 'do you honestly believe that?'  
  
"So I take that one of us is going to go over there and start asking questions?"  
  
"More like I'm going to go over there to start asking some questions."  
  
"And why can't I go?"  
  
"Because you'll probably get yourself executed for some stupid reason."  
  
"Aww, you know me better than that." He caught the look his friend was giving him. "What?! Can't a guy tell a joke?"  
  
Keith's only response was to shake his head in exasperation.  
  
She slid into her room quietly and tossed her hand pack onto her bed. Looking around, she found that the only thing that had really changed since she had left was the sheets.  
  
"Still a room for child, I see," he mumbled to herself.  
  
"Your father sometimes forgets that you're growing up, NaTal," a raspy voice said from behind her.  
  
"Oh, Haggar, I didn't hear you come in," NaTal said nervously.  
  
"Tut, tut, dear girl. I am a very powerful witch, you know that. There are things I can do that would scare even that father of yours," she said, reaching up and dusting a stray strand out of the girl's face, "Things that you, yourself will one day be able to do. One day, men throughout the universe will tremble at your feet."  
  
"Before my power and before my beauty, you've been drilling that fact into my skull since I was a child," the girl said, turning around to face her mirror.  
  
"But this has to go," the witch hissed, pulling at something in the girl's hair.  
  
The rest of Natal's snowy white hair fell to her waist. Around the last six inches, it turned dark gray and curly. One of Haggar's knurled hands captured one of the curls.  
  
"At least those idiots didn't see fit to chop off all your hair."  
  
"Haggar?"  
  
"What is it child?"  
  
"You know my father better then anyone else, right?"  
  
"Yes, why?"  
  
"Can you tell me why father saw it fit to send me off to an Alliance military school rather then sending me through the same training that he sent my brother through. And why he has also seen it fit to not tell anyone that I'm alive?"  
  
"It's for your own safety, child. You know full well that there are people who would kidnap and mistreat you souly for the fact that you are Zarkon's only daughter."  
  
"Life is always a disadvantage, isn't it?" she asked, turning to face the witch once again.  
  
NaTal was met mid turn with the back of Haggar's stern hand.  
  
"Don't think that just because you're about to become an adult that you can go around behaving as though your life is about to end!" the old witch snarled as the younger woman fell to the floor.  
  
"I'm sorry," NaTal mumbled, nursing her cheek.  
  
"You shouldn't apologize to me, you're only hurting yourself with that kind of thinking," the witch said, walking out of the room.  
  
"Funny," NaTal mumbled to herself, "It seemed to me that you were the one who hit me."  
  
"Sire," Haggar said quietly as she entered the thrown room, "I think we may have a problem."  
  
"What sort of problem?"  
  
He watched the look the witch was giving him and muttered a particularly vulgar Drule comment.  
  
*****  
Yes, it seems like this is going nowhere, but I assure you, as soon as I can figure out what I'm doing, you'll know! Bye for Nyo! 


	4. Have fun, boys

(Disclaimer time! Nyo! I own nothing here. Well, I do own NaTal, but hey, I did create her.) *****  
  
Allura walked into the sitting room, looking around for someone or something.  
  
"What're ya looking for?" Lance asked.  
  
"More like who am I looking for. Has anyone seen Keith at all?"  
  
After the respective nos from Hunk and Pidge, Lance started chuckling.  
  
"Hey, what's so funny?" Pidge asked getting up and facing Lance.  
  
"I'm just surprised that he didn't tell you guys before he left for the academy."  
  
"Why's he going there?" Hunk asked, confused.  
  
"He was headed for the Alliance military academy to check out some unusual activity near there."  
  
"He definatly needs some time off if he thinks there's something sneaky going on at the academy," Allura laughed.  
  
"Finally, somebody who agrees with me!" Lance chuckled.  
  
NaTal is walking through the halls of Castle Doom, looking very determined and upset at the same time.  
  
She had always hated dresses and couldn't understand why her father insisted that she wear such things. Tugging at the bodice, she made a mental note to find out just who had the bright idea to invent lace and have their descendants declared enemies of every Drule that ever would be.  
  
She'd gotten one of the slaves to tell her that her brother's room was still where it had always been. He was going to find out that she was here soon enough, why shouldn't she be the one to tell him?  
  
She came that same familiar door from all those years ago. Completely forgetting to knock, she turned the knob and pushed the door open.  
  
The site that greeted her was her brother, still half asleep and just dragging himself out of bed. She simply stood there, stupefied, staring at the man in front of her. That was when he noticed that she was standing there.  
  
"What the hell!?" he screamed, throwing a book at the rapidly closing door.  
  
"Well, some things never change, he's a big grouch in the morning," she muttered to herself, trudging off down the hall.  
  
Keith walks into the monitoring room for the second time that day, this time he has a worried look on his face.  
  
"Hey, what's up?" Pidge asked, looking up from the screen he was reading.  
  
"I found out what was going on at the Academy," he said quietly.  
  
"And?" everyone in the room asked at once.  
  
"Natal went home."  
  
"Wait a minute! She was that drule girl who hexed you, wasn't she?" Lance asked, chuckling at the memory.  
  
"Thank you for bringing up that painful endeavor, Lance," he growled. "Anyway, she was going back home. I still don't know why a drule was enrolled there in the first place." He pause a moment, as if he was remembering something. "Hey, wait a minute! What do you mean 'that drule girl who hexed you'? You two were going out last I knew!"  
  
Lance did his best to ignore the looks everyone was giving him.  
  
"We had detention together a few times, big deal," he shrugged coolly.  
  
"A few times? The two of you were in there together almost every day!" Keith shot back.  
  
"I didn't hear you complaining when I talked her into removing that hex!"  
  
"May I ask just what got you hexed in the first place?" Allura asked, giggling.  
  
"Well Keith here was trying to make a stink bomb behind the chemistry teacher's back. NaTal was paired with him for the experiment, and she tried to tell him that he was going to make it go off, but he wouldn't listen," Lance started with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Do we have to go into this?" Keith hissed.  
  
"What happened next?" Hunk asked, fighting back a chuckle.  
  
"From what my sources tell me, it blew-up in his face and they both got detention."  
  
Everyone but Keith burst out laughing.  
  
"She hexed him for making her smell bad?" Pidge asked, trying to control his breathing.  
  
"No, she hexed me for what I said to get her to shut up. I asked her what a girl knew about making a stink bomb. Little did I know that she was the one responsible for the mess hall incident."  
  
The rest of the guys on the team gave a groan of recognition, Allura gave a small titter.  
  
"I envy you guys sometimes, you've met some amazing people at the academy," Allura said wistfully.  
  
"And that girl was one of the more interesting people there," Lance added with a smirk.  
  
Hee, fun. This is going to be a fun story, nyo? Well, continue to enjoy! 


	5. first outing

I'm back! Nyo! ~~~~~~  
  
NaTal pushed open the door to her father's throne room, an easy enough task for her. Inside, she found him in the middle of a discussion with his court.  
  
"Sorry," she squeaked, starting to back out of the room. "I'll come back later."  
  
"Ah, NaTal, I was just about to tell these gentlemen that you'd finally returned from that dismal Alliance academy for good!" Zarkon announced.  
  
The men inched away from the young woman in the red dress. NaTal couldn't help but smile to herself at their reaction to her presence. They still remembered her. Things were gonna be just fine.  
  
"It is good to see you all again," she said, faking honesty and eagerness to being present.  
  
The men each nod their heads nervously, bidding welcome to the king's second child.  
  
"Father, I need to speak with you for a moment," Natal said, backing out of the room a few steps.  
  
"Gentlemen, we'll continue this later," Zarkon said, following his daughter out of the room.  
  
The 'delegates' were left to themselves to discus one of their favorite topic, the so-called 'princess'.  
  
"I'm telling you, there is something off about that girl, I just don't like her," one of the men stated.  
  
"I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the old witch was the girl's own mother!" another one of them laughed.  
  
"Quiet down, both of you," the eldest man present said softly. They could still be within earshot! And anyway, I wouldn't be surprised either, but for a different reason. None of you are old enough to remember what anything was like before Zarkon began trying to concur Arus."  
  
"This I've got to hear!"  
  
"The old witch, or should I be saying bitch, was once very pleasing to look at." He listened to a gwafa from another young man. "Don't laugh! Zarkon even used her as an assassin. The girl bears more than a passing resemblance to the woman in her younger days." He then chuckled to himself. "It would seem as though our king sired his own new hit-woman."  
  
"Now, what is it you needed to talk to me about?" Zarkon asked his only daughter.  
  
"How well are things going in recruiting a crew for me to lead?"  
  
"Not very well, I'm afraid. You have no idea how hard it is to find personnel who can pilot a ship and be trusted with a woman for a captain. But that's not why you needed to speak with me about, is it?"  
  
"No, it's not."  
  
"Then why?"  
  
"There were a number of individuals back at the academy that I would trust with my life, with the minor problem of how they're with the Alliance and all," she said, rubbing her neck. "There was even a man there that I could trust," she added toying with something around her neck. "I believe that if I were to have the chance to speak with them once again, I might be able to convince them to come with me. After all, you've always said that I have a gift with words."  
  
"Unfortunately, not everyone is as easily swayed by a pretty face and a few kind words as I am."  
  
"Are you implying that I've been lied to my whole life?"  
  
"Not at all, simply that you may need to use a few of your better tricks for such things as these. But until then, I have a job for you."  
  
"What sort of job?"  
  
"There is a member of the Garesion board that I need taken care of, that is, of coarse if you are willing to go all the way over there again."  
  
"Not a problem!" She waved off.  
  
"Then if you also don't mind, I'd like for you to leave right after you and your brother have your sitting."  
  
"Do we have to go through that again every year?"  
  
"Until one of you gets married, you're going to do this every year. The only other way you two are getting out of this is literally over my dead body!"  
  
"You realize that can be arrainged," she said resting a hand on her hip.  
  
"But I know you well enough not to worry about that."  
  
NaTal smirked to herself and turned away from her father.  
  
"I'll see you at the sitting then?" she asked coyly.  
  
"Until then, dear daughter."  
  
Zarkon turned and walked back to his thrown room. NaTal began walking away slowly, fiddling with the thing around her neck.  
  
"Well father, I may have to help my brother rectify this situation," she mused to herself. "After all," she added, holding up the ring that hung suspended from her neck to eyelevel, "You'll never approve of my fiancé, my dearest one."  
  
Lance walked up behind his brooding friend and startled him with a slap on the back.  
  
"Hey, Keith! You're not still mad at me are you, buddy?" He asked.  
  
"What do you think?" Keith spat sourly.  
  
"What? I was just telling the truth!" Lance said, holding his hands in front of his face as if defending himself.  
  
"But you didn't bother to mention how you met her, you do realize that, don't you?"  
  
Lance took a seat next to his buddy and reclined.  
  
"I didn't think it was necessary, that's all."  
  
"Dork!"  
  
"Hey, come on. You wouldn't be able to live with me if I wasn't like this!"  
  
"We can barely live with you as it is!"  
  
"You don't really mean that, do you?"  
  
"Wanna bet?"  
  
"Keith, you wound me!"  
  
Allura walked into the repair hanger, finding Hunk and Pidge tinkering with the Lions.  
  
"Hey, guys!" She called up.  
  
Hunk and Pidge both move to look at the princess. Hunk smacked his head on the hood he was tinkering under.  
  
"Whatcha need, Princess?" Hunk asked, rubbing his head.  
  
"I was wondering if you guys could tell me anything about that girl, NaTal. What was she like and how did Lance meet her?"  
  
"Well, the last one is pretty easy. Detention," Pidge chirped.  
  
"Keith said about that before."  
  
"She released a herd of jackalopes into the staff building," Hunk added, "It's amazing what you can do with ducktape."  
  
"And Lance?"  
  
"He'd super-glued the door to the dean's office shut."  
  
"While the dean was still in there!"  
  
"Oh, my god!" Allura laughed.  
  
NaTal stepped out of the transport ship, casting a sideways glance into the polished metal on the side of the hull. She had to give herself credit for pulling this one off. Not only had she changed her appearance to look more human, but she had also managed to disguise he voice. One other little thing she had to pride herself on was the fact that she had left enough of her 'alien' features present to give the dear man fair warning if he chose to notice them. She chuckled to herself before walking into the crowded space-station. 


	6. plots

I'm back fans, so are the kitties and the blue-skinned royal pain that we love so much. Now on with the show!  
  
NaTal sat at her table in the bar, sipping at a drinking a concoction that she knew she wasn't old enough to drink legally. She didn't care at the moment though. Her father was going to have her head for bailing on the portrait sitting to get this job done.  
  
"You alone?" someone asked from behind her.  
  
She turned around to look at the very man she was here to kill.  
  
"Not any more," she said, smiling sweetly and pushing out the chair across from her for him.  
  
"Well, now. I haven't seen you here before."  
  
"I'm new to this quadrant."  
  
"I know. I could never forget a face like yours."  
  
NaTal smiled to herself, she knew that both fate and nature had always been kind to her and she was going to need both for this little problem.  
  
Lance perched himself on top of a hill not far from the castle of lions. He slips something out of his pocket and holds it up in front of his face. He opens the locket and looks at the woman's picture inside.  
  
"So Lotor and NaTal both get that from their mother, huh?" he chuckled to himself, "Even I hafta wonder what she was like now." He heard someone walking up behind him and put the locket away.  
  
"What's up, Koran?"  
  
"Commander Keith would like for all members of the team to meet in the launch room as so as possible."  
  
"Now what's he up to?"  
  
"The same has been said about you, Lance," Koran said with a chuckle.  
  
"Yea yea," Lance remarked, standing up.  
  
"Where the hell is she?!" Zarkon screamed.  
  
"She probably did what I should have done a long time ago, gotten the hell out of here!"  
  
"Shut up! You've already stepped on my final nerve and I am in no mood to hear it from you!"  
  
"When are you ever?! I've spent the past eighteen years watching you spoil that brat rotten, like she was some sort of prize pet. Did you ever think about the fact that there is hardly anyone in the Alliance that wouldn't want to see us dead and that would leave her in charge and this kingdom screwed!"  
  
"Your sister is more competent then you think. I haven't been spoiling her, she has been trained as an assassin, you'd know that if you looked at something other then the end of your nose!"  
  
NaTal followed the councilman back to his apartment. She smiled to herself as she dropped the wooden peg into the door to keep it from closing all the way.  
  
"I certainly didn't expect to meet someone like you in that bar. There has got to be something wrong with you that I'm not seeing," he said running his hands over her torso.  
  
"You're right," she said, her smile broadening until her pointed teeth were visible, "You didn't meet a girl like me in that bar. That girl doesn't exist at all anywhere. Oh, and just so you know, that special drink I got you should be kicking in right about now," she finished, letting her discise fade away, "So I'll just let myself out then."  
  
The man began to chock and cough while collapsing to the floor.  
  
"You, young lady, have a great deal of explaining to do!" Zarkon yelled, his anger giving him a flushed appearance.  
  
"Father, your blood-pressure," NaTal reminded her father, not even looking like she was interested in what he was saying to her.  
  
"Listen here!" he continued, not noticing that his daughter wasn't listening to a word he was saying, "You ran off, without letting me or your brother know that you were, you had everyone here looking for you!"  
  
"You're just mad because I skipped out on the damn portrait sitting!" she yelled back, like usual, not caring how childish she looked.  
  
"Yes, I am upset about that, but I have more important matters on my mind. Namely your safety young lady!"  
  
"Go stuff it in a box someplace, I can take care of myself!"  
  
Zarkon could control himself no longer. He swung out his arm and struck his daughter across her face. Despite her own strength, she fell to the ground at the blow.  
  
Zarkon stared down at his daughter in shock. NaTal got up from the floor in a hurry and ran out of the room. Lotor rose from his seat and followed her.  
  
"How could he?" NaTal growled to herself, rubbing her cheek.  
  
"He's struck me more times then I can count, what makes you think that you can go without?"  
  
"He's never actually struck me outside of combat training. This will not go without its consequences," she said, leaning on the balcony railing.  
  
"What are you going to do?" he asked, joining his sister.  
  
"Nothing at first," she said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm going to let him think that everything's completely wonderful for a while, then I'll disappear for a time."  
  
"I'm starting to see why Father favors you so much, if it had been you here instead of me, the Alliance would have had it's hands more then full."  
  
"Doubtful," she said, leaning on her arm, "If I had been the one here instead of me, you'd be the one with the intimate knowledge of the Alliance and I'd be the one struggling for headway."  
  
"Just don't start going after my Allura when my back is turned," he joked, looking over at his sister.  
  
"Is that the tan-skinned girl the Father said you were always chasing after?" she asked, not truly interested in the subject.  
  
"That's not very fair of you!" he spat, almost teasingly. "You do realize that acting as though nothing's wrong will also include going through the portrait sitting no matter how must you dislike the whole deal."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know," she said, pushing off the railing and walking back inside.  
  
~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~  
  
Author's note time!  
  
Quest cat pops up on the screen wearing a talk-show host costume.  
  
"Hey there all you happy people of the viewing world! I'm here today with none other then NaTal herself!"  
  
"Hello," NaTal said politely.  
  
"So tell us a little about yourself."  
  
"Well, I'm the only daughter of King Zarkon, I am also Haggar's apprentice, and I've just celebrated my eighteenth birthday."  
  
"Tell us this then, why hasn't your father let it be known that you exist?"  
  
"Well, first because our kingdom has many enemies and keeping my birth quiet would give them one less target to chase after."  
  
"End second?"  
  
"I act as an assassin for my family."  
  
"I see... So you went to the Alliance military academy, any friends there?"  
  
"Yes, and some enemies as well,"  
  
"Care to tell us about them?"  
  
"Well, there was that Keith idiot, what I wouldn't get to beat him up one last time!"  
  
"Okay...And what about these friends you said about?"  
  
"There was this one fellow, Lance, he was always willing to stand beside me, no matter what. And then there was Sven, a little hard to understand but easy to get along with. And of course there was Cersa, she was my roommate. If Lance wasn't there getting into trouble with me, then she was her!"  
  
"Well isn't that ni..."  
  
NaTal picked up her pager and made an annoyed sound.  
  
"I'm sorry Miss Cat, I really need to be going."  
  
"...ce, I'm sorry to hear that. We'll have to have you back again soon."  
  
"I would like to be back."  
  
"We'll see you all another time!" 


	7. identity

NaTal: Hey! We're back!  
  
Questckat: Yea, what'd you think, that I'd just forget about your story?  
  
NaTal: Well, the story is called 'the Forgotten Princess'.  
  
Questckat: Watch it! You may be a princess, but I can still hit you!  
  
NaTal: Like to see you try!  
  
Questckat whipped out her paper fan and began running after her creation.  
  
NaTal: Oh look, the story's starting!  
  
She disappeared back into her own story.  
  
~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~  
  
NaTal slipped into Castle Doom under the cover of shadows. She kept the cloak that she was wearing pulled tightly around her form. This didn't stop one of the guards from noticing her.  
  
"What do we have here? A spy for the Alliance? Or perhaps someone sent to seduce and kill the King?"  
  
"Get your hands off of me, you pervert!" she yelled, while fighting against his grip.  
  
"Oh? A feisty one are you? Well, I might be willing to let you go, but you're going to have to convince me to,"  
  
"Go to hell!" She shrieked.  
  
"Well, looks like you've just made up my mind for me."  
  
"Get you hands off of her!" a very commanding voice ordered the guard.  
  
"My Prince! I was just dealing with this intruder."  
  
"She is not an intruder, you imbecile! She is a spy for my father!" he yelled at the now shaking guard. "Our father," he added softly, looking over at his sister.  
  
"Wait a minute! You're Highness, I had the distinct impression that you were the King's only child."  
  
"Well, your impression was distinctly wrong!" NaTal snapped at the man, letting the cloak drop to the floor.  
  
The guard looked between the two royals. Without the cloak, the woman he had been messing with looked just as formidable as her brother. The poor fellow was about to collapse from fear.  
  
"Father's not terribly happy with you right now," Lotor said flatly.  
  
"He'll get over it, he always does when it comes to me," NaTal stated matter-of-factly with a toss of her hair.  
  
By now, the guard had run for dear life. Neither of them paid much attention to him though. They were already heading off to find their father.  
  
"Senator Kirtolf is what?!" Keith spat out at the officer he was speaking to over the com relay.  
  
"Dead sir, the only reason you were contacted at all is because what was found at the scene. I'll send over the image now!"  
  
On the screen appeared the image of a blue heart with a sword through it.  
  
"Ever seen it before?"  
  
"Nope, how come you asked me about it?"  
  
"Because of what was written on the back of the card, that's why,"  
  
The officer sent over the image of the other side off the 'calling card'. It read, 'your time is drawing short, Keith," in beautiful script with a poorly drawn picture of a black cat-like creature.  
  
"Can't draw, can he?" Keith asked.  
  
"You're sure it's a man?"  
  
"More then likely, women usually try and make their drawings look good, this person didn't even try to make this understandable!"  
  
"Well, we'll keep you updated on our progress,"  
  
"Please do,"  
  
Keith turned off the monitor right as Lance was entering the room.  
  
"What's shake'n? And what's with the grim look?"  
  
"We've got ourselves one hell of a problem on our hands right now," Keith said, sounding very tired.  
  
"What sort of problem?"  
  
"Look at this," Keith said, bringing the pictures back onto the screen. "Seem familiar?"  
  
"Yea, that looks like NaTal's handwriting,"  
  
"Try is, you're girlfriend's just lucky that I didn't turn her name in as a match for their killer, or should I say assassin!"  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lance demanded.  
  
"One of the senators was killed, and this was what they found near his body!"  
  
"So you just go and accuse her when she's not here to defend herself! That's real noble of you, Keith!" Lance spat before storming out of the room.  
  
"He doesn't get it, I'm just telling him to be careful around her, that's all."  
  
"I don't know how I'm supposed to get through to you, young lady!" King Zarkon bellowed at his daughter, who didn't seem to be listening. "Every time I tell you something for your own good, you pull a stunt like this! Are you even listening to me?!"  
  
"Yes Father,"  
  
"Then what did I just say?"  
  
"You were harping on about how I keep pulling these 'stunts'. And Father, must I remind you about your blood-pressure, again?"  
  
"You're getting to be as bad as your brother! The next thing I know, you'll be chasing after some no-name prince rather then killing people that we need dead!"  
  
NaTal grinned and toyed with her necklace once again.  
  
"You have no idea how close you are to the truth you really are, father," she mumbled to herself.  
  
"I swear I don't know what to do with you anymore!"  
  
NaTal straightened up and walked out of the room, leaving her father to talk to himself.  
  
Lotor was sitting alone in the castle library, flipping through the pages of a book that he'd found, not really paying attention to what was going on around him. That was when Hagar placed her knarled hand on his shoulder. The old witch couldn't help but let a small smile cross her weathered lips as the young man jumped a foot clear in the air.  
  
"Shouldn't let yourself get pulled into your studies so deeply, my prince," she said with a chuckle (A/N, shudders).  
  
"And you shouldn't go sneaking up on people like that!" he yelled back.  
  
"Poor, foolish boy... Doesn't even stop to think that I may have come with information that he may find useful to him."  
  
"Speak your mind, witch, I grow tired of your games already."  
  
"You might want to keep an eye on that sister of yours unless you wish to loss her again, this time for good," Haggar said before walking out of the library and leaving Lotor alone once again.  
  
What the hell is up with NaTal's new attitude? I have no idea where that came from. Could be fun to work with, though. I think I may go with what I had Haggar say about NaTal needing to be watched. I almost wish she was actually one of the canon characters, this would be so much easier, but not as much fun! Anyways! Have fun reading and tell me what you guys think! Nyo! 


	8. looking at the future

Hey there! Back again! Warning now, this may prove to be a slow chapter, well as slow as anything that NaTal gets involved in that is. Anyways, this chapter's focus will be mainly on an important event in any person's life, and thus giving us a look into Drule culture. Why am I doing this? I have no idea. Am I going to have fun? Hell yea! On with the show!

NaTal sat at her window, ideally twirling one of her curls and thinking about the days to come. She was more then a little worried for herself, considering what would be happening. Was she really ready for this? She stood up, straightened her dress and walked out of the room.

"Okay, Lance, start talking!" Keith snapped, pushing his friend into the chair and standing over him, "There's something's bothering you and you're not going anywhere until we find out what it is!"

"Then we're not going anywhere a long time I guess!" Lance growled, glaring up at his best friend.

"I suppose we are," Keith growled in return.

"Lance, Keith! This really isn't necessary. If you would both just calm down and..."

"No disrespect intended princess," Lance started, not taking his glare off of Keith, "but unless the next words out of your mouth have something to do with pie, you'd better not say them."

Allura backed away from the impending fight and out of the room. Out in the hall, she met up will Hunk and Pidge, who were waiting for the ruckus to die down.

"How long will this take?" she asked, looking between the two for answers.

"That depends," Pidge said, pushing up his glasses.

"On what?" she asked.

"On how stubborn they're both feeling today," Hunk answered flatly.

"They both seemed to be feeling like putting up a fight today, I'm actually hoping that King Zarcon attacks today so that they have something to distract them from this. Do you guys really have no idea what's wrong with Lance?"

The two men looked at each other for a moment before answering their princess.

"Well, Keith doesn't know this, but NaTal and Lance were an item back at the academy," Pidge explained, pulling out a picture of the aforementioned pair and handing it to the princess.

"They were practically made for each other," Hunk added, leaning against the wall.

"So, what has Lance acting like there's a sniper on the loose?"

"NaTal... still lives by Drule traditions. And her coming of age ceremony will be taking place soon."

"So, Lance is concerned as to how he's going to get there without looking like a traitor?" Allura asked, crossing her arms.

"That would be my guess," Pidge said with a shrug.

"You think we should find a way to cover for him while he's gone?" Hunk asked, looking at the princess pleadingly.

"That would be the best course of action for this situation," she said with a smirk playing on her lips.

NaTal walked into her brother's room, not even caring if he was with someone, which he was.

"Lolo," she called after closing the door again, "I need to talk to you."

"I'll be out in a moment," he answered, startled to hear himself addressed by that nickname.

"Alright," she called back from her side of the door.

She wasn't left waiting for long as he'd made quick his exit to see what was wrong with his sister.

"What is it?" he asked, trying to read his sister's face.

"You know that my coming up in a few days," she said softly.

"That's all you're worried about?" he asked before getting a look from his younger sibling, "I didn't mean it that way."

"Then how did you mean it?" she demanded, folding her arms.

"I'm only saying that you don't have anything to worry about," he said, trying to sound comforting, "Everything's going to be alright. It's not like they can tell you that you're no longer allowed to be an adult or anything like that. And don't you dare tell me that was you were worried about."

"No, that's not what was bothering me. It's been five years since your ceremony. Do you really think there's anyone still alive that would even care?" she asked softly, looking away.

"Will you relax?" he asked, grabbing hold of his sister by her shoulders, "Everything's going to be alright, don't worry about it. And one other thing,"

"Yes?" she asked, hoping that her brother was going to impart a very important piece of knowledge upon her.

"Go to bed, you need sleep," he said simply, turning around and returning to his room.

"That was it?!" she asked herself, staring at where her brother had been just a moment before.

Lance slipped into the break room, as the note he'd found had instructed him to, and waited for whomever had asked him here to show up. The lights flipped on and he found himself flanked by both Hung and Pidge with Allura standing in front of all of three of them.

"Did I do something wrong?" Lance asked, nervous that he was going to be beaten.

"No, we need to talk to you about your girlfriend's coming-of-age party," Allura said quietly, looking her friend over before turning her back, "The three of us are going to cover your trail until you get back. However, I have a favor to ask you."

"What would it be?" Lance asked, more then a little nervous about the whole situation he was in.

"I would like for you to bring this to her on behalf of Arus," Allura said, turning around and holding out a small box with gold edges.

"What's in it?" Lance asked, holding the box up to eye level.

"A necklace that is to act as a peace offering to at least one of their people. Any ally that Arus can gain is one that it desperately needs," she explained, closing Lances hand around the box, "Please make sure that she gets this," she finished, starting to sound sad.

"I'll make sure that she does," Lance whispered, holding the box close to his chest, "You can count on that."

With that said, he turned and ran out of the room.

"You think he'll make it?" Pidge asked, looking at his princess.

"You mean without running into Keith? Not likely. If you mean that he'll get out of the castle, then he will find his way, but we still have to keep Keith distracted until he returns,"

"Understood," the two said in unison before turning and walking out of the room.

I'm having fun, how's about all of you guys out there? Good! See you all next time around! Nyo!


End file.
